Connection2022 | Shea's Blog

Community Connection

I decided to contact Scott Flanders, also known online as Shapecarver, an artist who’s work spans from character and creature design to game development to teaching vast audiences online. He’s most well known for his creature design where he often works on monstrous characters, many times bringing elements of horror into his art. I especially enjoy his style which works primarily with strong silhouettes and bold values. He says that “Silhouettes are an important part of my character development process. They are a very useful tool for evaluating and unifying the visual relationships amongst a broad character roster… if a concept appears to be working at this scale, then I start to get excited.” I’ve actually learned a lot from this statement, and I’ve occasionally implemented it into my own art. For example, here’s something I did a little under two years ago.

I reached out to Mr. Flanders via email and even though he’s been extremely busy, he was kind enough to respond. I first learned of Mr. Flanders from his teaching on YouTube and I’ve followed him ever since. Mr. Flanders was my first choice because I’ve admired his work for years as it’s been a large point of inspiration in both my artistic endeavors as well as my consideration of possible future careers. I’ve previously thought that I’d like to be artist once I’m older, but I’d always just said I’d rather be an architect, which, wasn’t false. I’d always seen the art industry as one that’s much too difficult to succeed in. That is, until recently when artists like Scott Flanders inspired me. While I do acknowledge that it will be difficult, I’m currently committed to achieving my goal of working as some form of artist. If you would like more information on Scott Flanders, go to his Patreon where you can see his in-depth description of himself and his own story.

Before the answers to the questions, here are a few links to some of his work:

Portfolio

Instagram

Online Character/Creature Design Course

YouTub e

He has not yet responded with the answers to the questions as he has recently been extremely busy. I don’t blame him for prioritizing his own family and career. I believe he’s starting a new business called Little Bang Inc. which, from what little I know, can definitely be both time consuming and stressful.